The Green Album

One of the pleasures of working at Walt Disney Records was licensing. That is, in addition to Disney products, we licensed non-Disney products, such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. One of my favorites was Gumby. 

Using the technique of claymation, Gumby, Pokey the horse, and friends were set up, one per shot, to create stop-motion animation. I had two fun experiences on the project.

The first was our introduction. Several of us were flown to Marin County, just north of San Francisco. There we met Gumby’s creater, Art Clokey, and a group of assistants. It was fascinating to observe the assistants move Gumby and his friends to create the technique known as claymation.

After watching the technique, we moved to a meeting table, where we brainstormed projects we could do together. With us was our music producer Shep Stern, who immediately began promoting the idea of a Gumby record. He even suggested a name for it—The Green Album, in honor of TheWhite Album by the Beatles. 

(Shep is shown here on the lower right, along with—starting on the left—other Walt Disney Records staff members Deborah Watson, Ann Braybrooks, Ted Kryczko, and Randy Thornton.)

Later that day we flew home, trading song ideas on the way, including Bend Me Shape Me, Pokey’s Polka, We All Are Gumby, and the Gumby Heart Song, which we imagined (and later hired) Frank Sinatra Junior singing. 

A few months later the album was released, with those songs and a humorous group of others. The record was a long way from Mickey Mouse, but over the years it became one of my favorite Disney projects.

Here's a link to the album, if you'd like to listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnswUBlcZC0